1. Field of the Invention.
The present invention relates to heat control systems. More particularly, the present invention is directed to a system of heat rationing wherein, the boiler fluid temperature is maintained as low as possible during periods when not needed to avoid loss of heat from a higher temperature while providing high temperature fluid upon demand as required.
2. Description of the Prior Art.
With the increasing cost of energy, various ways with which to conserve heating fuel have been proposed. Programming to most efficiently use warm up and cool down periods for controlling buildings has been taught. Most frequently, the concepts have been directly to control the temperature within one or more rooms more efficiently but not to limiting the heat loss through the operation of the heating system itself.
Modern home central heating systems react to each zone thermostat call for heat by opening a zone valve to permit the transfer of fluid. The zone valve requests burner start to generate supporting heat, and circulator start for rapid response. The burner will operate until the thermostat is satisfied or the high-limit aquastat is exceeded. Energy conservation depends on efficient thermostat programming of the occupant's life style.
Conservation has also been proposed by varying the boiler temperature high-limit inversely with outdoor temperature. Such a technique does not consider the source heat requirement difference to support occupied or unoccupied zone areas, or the occupant human factor considerations of activity (deskwork vs housework), health (normal or sick) or unscheduled lifestyle (2 A.M. child care, late sleep in, or temperature history whether foundation and building material has stored heat or frost).
During summer, domestic hot water systems commonly use a low-limit aquastat to maintain a domestic hot water source of 140.degree. F. to satisfy most domestic needs. Conservation techniques include various programmed timers to turn off the system during non use. The resulting cold water encourages condensation, rust and deterioration, as well as forcing preprogrammed lifestyles.
The novel features which are considered as characteristic of the invention are set forth with particularity in the appending claims. The invention itself, however, as to its construction and obvious advantages, will best be understood from the following description of the specific embodiment when read with the accompanying drawings.